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Implementation of the COP26 declaration to halt forest loss must safeguard and include Indigenous people

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 6, pages 235–236 (2022)Cite this article

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To the Editor — World and industry leaders at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), held in Glasgow in November 2021, asserted in their declaration on forest and land use a commitment to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030”1. Nothing less than decisive and coordinated global action is required as we near an apocalyptic future of environmental degradation, species extinction and catastrophic climate change. With the recent acceleration in newly created global commitments and successes, such as the achievement of Aichi Target 11 in 20212, we should nonetheless pause and reflect about the implications of such top-down pledges to conserve forests for Indigenous peoples worldwide.

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Fig. 1: Misdirected policies.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Global Sustainable Development, School of Cross-Faculty Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Marco J. Haenssgen

  2. Monash University Indonesia, Bumi Serpong Damai City, Banten, Indonesia

    Alex M. Lechner

  3. Université d’Antananarivo, Ambohitsaina, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Sarobidy Rakotonarivo

  4. Department of Social Science and Development, Chiang Mai University, T. Suthep, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Prasit Leepreecha, Mukdawan Sakboon & Ta-Wei Chu

  5. Department of Geography, CY Cergy Paris Université, Cergy, France

    Elizabeth Auclair

  6. Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Ivo Vlaev

Authors
  1. Marco J. Haenssgen
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  2. Alex M. Lechner
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  3. Sarobidy Rakotonarivo
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  4. Prasit Leepreecha
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  5. Mukdawan Sakboon
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  6. Ta-Wei Chu
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  7. Elizabeth Auclair
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  8. Ivo Vlaev
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco J. Haenssgen.

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Competing interests

P.L. is a board member of the Indigenous Peoples’ Foundation for Education and Environment. The authors declare no further competing interests.

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Haenssgen, M.J., Lechner, A.M., Rakotonarivo, S. et al. Implementation of the COP26 declaration to halt forest loss must safeguard and include Indigenous people. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 235–236 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01650-6

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